Car Tire
by GeminiMercedes
Summary: Joey needs someone to test the new swing he made in his backyard and unfortunately for Mai, he leaves it up to her. JoeyxMai JounouchixMai POLARSHIPPING ONE-SHOT


Polarshipping One-Shot! Thought I'd give it a try…Enjoy!

xxx

"There, all done! Ready to try it Mai?' Joey Wheeler asked his blonde companion as he tightened a thick, straw rope around a tree branch on the oak tree located in his backyard.

"Dream on, I'm not going on that flimsy thing! What do you take me for Wheeler?" Mai Valentine asked impatiently.

She really had no one to blame but herself. She had forgotten to read the invitation for Serenity's birthday party and was an hour and a half early. And unfortunately for her, she had arrived when Joey was setting up one last surprise for his only sister.

The swing looked pretty good, she had to admit. The black tire looked relatively new and clean, and the rope seemed to have a pretty tight grip around it.

But then again it was Joey they were talking about, and she wasn't sure she was willing to try something that he had created at the very last minute.

"Maybe I should come back in an hour?" Mai said slowly, readying herself to spin on her heel and race back to her car.

"Well, if you want to that's fine. If I'm not entertaining enough, I'm sorry Mai." Joey said softly, loud enough for Mai to hear him though. Mai blushed in embarrassment and anger with herself. She didn't want to come off like that, but she really didn't want to get on that make-shift swing.

"It's not like that Joey, it's my fault for coming early – you shouldn't even have to entertain me when I'm so early. You should have just told me to go home." She said with honesty. She wouldn't have wanted him to do that, but if he had, she wouldn't have been upset. Well now _that_ was a lie too.

"I would never do that to ya, Mai!" a smile reappearing on the blonde teenager's face. Mai couldn't help but blush and turn away, except it was for a different reason this time.

"So, you ready to be the first person to try my amazing swing?" He asked with a wide smile. Mai sighed.

"No thank you, I really didn't plan on breaking my neck today."

"Aw cmon Mai, I promise I'll be right there. If there is even a chance that it'll break or snap, I'll catch you, promise."

"Thanks Joey-" She almost got caught up in the moment until she fully understood what he had said.

"Wait so are you saying I'm heavy and I might snap your make-shift swing?" She replied angrily. Joey backed up a couple steps and shook his head.

"H-hey I would never say that! I'm just saying if I didn't tie it tight enough, it might come loose. Or if the branch isn't thick enough, it might snap – it could happen if I tried it too!" He tried to explain himself quickly before having to feel Mai's wrath.

Fortunately, Mai seemed to believe him and she calmed down.

"Okay fine, I'll get in." She said while shaking her head.

She had seen one of these things in a movie once. She had grown up in a mansion, and while her parents were away she never got to play on anything remotely close to a swing. And she couldn't lie; it actually looked like a lot of fun.

But she wasn't about to give Joey the satisfaction of knowing she wanted to go on his little creation. So as she pushed her legs through the tire, she kept a nonchalant stare on the string attached to the tree trunk above her.

She mentally scolded herself for wearing a pair of skinny jeans with her black boots instead of her signature violet skirt. At least with a skirt, she would have had another excuse as to why she couldn't get into the swing.

"Are you sure this is clean? Because I'm not gonna…"

"Oh c'mon," He cut her off. "Stop complaining, I promise, it'll be fine!"

She sat down in the middle and got comfortable. It was pretty secure for a car tire, and as she began to swing she couldn't ignore the rush of adrenaline she was feeling from the back and forth pressure.

"W-wow, this is actually fun!" She admitted while still in shock.

"Hold on tight! I'm gonna push you to see if the swing can go any higher!" Joey yelled before disappearing and running behind her.

_That_ snapped her back to reality.

"Don't you _dare_ Wheeler! I'm already high enough!" But with her blonde curly hair covering her face, she couldn't see behind anything behind her. So she had no idea what her blonde friend was doing.

Suddenly she felt hands force pressure onto her back and the swing swung even higher than it had before.

"AHHHH!" She screamed out. As she swung back, she didn't feel the hands again and began to breathe regularly, realizing she was going at normal speed again. She heard laughter coming from behind her.

"Joey, wait till I get off this thing!" She threatened half-heartedly. In all honestly she was having the time of her life on this swing.

_I should've had one of these things as a kid!_

"Okay, could you slow me down now?" She yelled out, as Joey still hadn't come around from behind her.

When she heard no response, she began to panic.

"J-Joey, are you there?" She yelled again.

The second time she didn't get a response, she really lost it.

_Dammit, I shouldn't have let him get me on this stupid swing!_

And suddenly she heard the branch snap.

It was almost like watching a bad movie. She looked up to see the branch split into two pieces, the piece the rope was tied around began flailing in the air. Mai screamed loudly as she felt herself fall out of the tire and towards the ground.

Suddenly she felt two arms wrap around her and hold her tight. She opened her eyes and realized she hadn't hit the ground hard, but had been saved before it could happen.

"What the-"She looked up the see Joey looking at her with fear in his eyes.

"Hey are you okay? I went to go check on something with the barbeque and then I see you flying for the ground." The blonde teenager asked breathlessly.

"I'm okay. Thanks to you…" She replied softly. The two stayed in that position for a minute before they realized exactly what position they were in. Mai was the first to jump up and dust herself off. The realization of what happened fell over her and she turned angrily to the guy who had just saved her.

"I told you that thing was going to snap! I'll get you back for that Wheeler!"

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know it would snap like that! It was fine for the longest time…" He trailed off knowing it was useless to argue with Ms. Valentine when she was angry.

"Whatever… I'm hungry – do you have any of the food ready yet? And after we get some food you'd better come back and fix this tire so I swing again, alright?" She demanded as she began walking to his patio door.

Joey nodded as he listened to her demands and then smiled from ear to ear when he realized what she was asking for. She turned to see him smiling at her, and had to stop herself from blushing.

"Would you hurry up, what kind of host doesn't have food to entertain his um…fashionably _early_ guests?" Joey rolled his eyes as he past her and opened the door for the two of them to go inside.

As he fished inside his fridge for a pre-party snack, Mai couldn't help but stare at the young blond and smile brightly.

She wouldn't admit it, but she was _so_ happy that she hadn't read that invitation.

xxx

Just a random one-shot I wanted to do. I really like polarshipping, but with all my other stories still in the shop I didn't want to get really deep in a polarshipping fan fiction. Enjoy!


End file.
